Blog

i haven’t
written much lately, so here’s my make up.  enjoy – i was enthralled
tonight with 24 on FOX and immediately after the show, the 10 o’clock news came
on with news of terror alerts here in the US.  The news gentlemen stood on
one half of the screen explaining to the viewers things they need to buy to be
prepared for a terrorist attack while on the other half was a large bullseye
with the huge words terror alert and a red background all the while insisting it
is not meant to frighten the public.

want frightening news?  they continued to explain that the US is under
the 2nd terror alert after the 9/11 attacks over a year ago.  that an
attack is more than likely going to happen at the end of this week, when some
holiday of theirs ends.  and it will happen in multiple locations.
new
terror alert

so my adventures this past weekend.
Friday night i ventured to Chapel Hill to see my friend pretzel boy and
associates play their 2nd gig at The Cave.  i didn’t get any signed CD’s
this time, however.  maybe that will change soon?  Well, I had never
ventured onto Franklin Street before.  To those not from here, Franklin
Street is the place thats very close to UNC Chapel Hill college, and within
about a 2 mile stretch there’s about 999 burger joints, soda shops, bars,
clothing stores, whatever.  with everything so jammed packed, and the place
i’m trying to find really being a cave.  I drove up and down all around,
trying to find this The Cave.  never found it.  gave up.  so i
parked somewhere at random where i saw a bunch of people, got out and figured id
find it quicker if i walked.  so that i did.  too bad i picked the
opposite end of the 2 mile stretch to park on than my destination.  and
also too bad i started out going the wrong way.  so as i walked down
Franklin Street, i passed shop after shop.  bar after eating joint.
groups of people after strange individuals.  i saw everyone saying hi to
each other, giving high fives and all to their college buddies, and here i am.
25 years old, luckily i look like i’m 18.  walking alone.  down
franklin street.  a small group is ahead of me and i watch them pass by
another group of people.  a girl standing on the sidewalk with dyed red
hair hits one of the passerby’s with her pocket book.  they laugh and
continue on.  i was soon to follow, and as i passed by, she reached around
and slapped me on the ass with her pocket book.  i was about to turn
around, but what would i say?  i just laughed and continued on until i got
to the last stoplight where there’s actually not another bar across the street
so i turned around.  i walk back up franklin street looking at the numbers
on the buildings trying to establish some sort of pattern so it would help me
find my way.  and of course, i pass the same lady again, she hits the
person in front of me, but she’s too distracted laughing to hit me as i pass by.
i was kinda disappointed.  come on, that’s probably the first time a girl
has touched my ass in over a year.  dont laugh.  of course hindsight,
i should have said to her, ok you slapped mine, now i get to slap yours.
but alas it didnt occur to me at the moment.  so i walk and walk and i pass
an old black man on the street.  he says spare any change?  i said to
him no thanks and quickly continued walking.  and i walked and walked and
walked and actually got too far that i decided not to turn around and find my
car because i thought the walk back would be longer than the walk forward.
i passed another lone black elderly man.  he says excuse me sir.  i
said no thanks again, and continued on.  i heard him behind me, no thanks?
what the hell’s that supposed to mean?  i continued on.  HEY he
screamed.  forcing the people in front of me to turn around too.  i
didn’t, just continued on.  finally, i see ahead the sign for The Cave.
i would have never found it driving around.  i mean, it’s in the basement
of some other obscure shop.  you have to walk down a crack in between two
buildings where they managed to place some steps, you get to the bottom of these
steps to a dead end.  you immediately have three options.  a black
door on your left.  a black door on your right and turn around and go back
up the steps.  with no sign on either door, when i got to the bottom the
only clue i had was the blaring music coming from the left door.  so i
ventured into opening the left door.  a large thump hit my chest as the
music filled out into the city air.  i had to duck to enter the door.
the place was very dimly lit.  i felt like i was walking onto the stage.
the door is right beside where the artists play.  this place is very small,
and with the crowd it gets, it’s even smaller.  the ceiling and walls are
covered in misshapen plaster.  it’s very small, really like a cave.
there is a small bar.  they serve water, beer and Doritos.  that’s it.
i find pretzel boy sitting at a closeby table, along with Berb, Jason, Marsha,
Mike, and Sue.  (in no particular order).  i went over to greet them
which took all of about 3 steps.  and i realized i was blocking the view of
the table behind them.  so i sat down on the floor and enjoyed … some
other band.  sorry.  but if pretzel boy was right, some of the members
from Squirrel Nut Zippers was in it.  3 man band, 2 acoustics and 1 bass.
i liked the music.  then it was time for freak boy to jump on, so that he
did and played and played.  and i remembered all (well almost all) the
songs from years ago when he introduced me to his demo tapes.  it was nice
to hear them fledged out with drums and bass and all.  and to be heard
played live, by a band.  but i never pictured freak boy to be in a band.
sorry.  guess that’s like i never pictured myself doing the dj’ing i’m
doing.  so anyway, Sue actually took the first two pictures on my camera,
and Mike the last 2.  #4 is the best, you can see everyone there.  so
anyway, the band played, they ended.  and after they packed up, we all left
so the next band could get up.  it was then that i realized most of the
people in the cave of The Cave was the to see pretzel freak and friends.
the place cleared out quick.  I mean, John even showed up during the last
song, so that made 8 of our group, and the other band members and quite a few
people there too.  i bet the next band felt kinda silly getting up there
with no audience.  we left there and as we climbed the mountain of stairs,
there was another elderly black man asking for money from all of us!  freak
boy said i dont have any money, i’m a musician.  and the guy just stood in
awe and disunderstandment.  we walked to almost everyone’s car.  john
parked elsewhere since he came in very late, and i of course didn’t know where i
parked.  but somehow we managed to take 4 other cars to find my car, and
then we had a 5 car caravan to Dimpsey’s house.  its amazing we all stuck
with each other through chapel hill and I40.  anyway, we get there, we just
kinda strolled on in and met the other people there, some i had seen at The Cave
earlier.  took up seating arrangements in the living room and i confessed
to Marsha that i felt wierd just coming into someone’s house i didn’t know,
seating down and taking a break.  but, that we did, and we mingled along
and looked at Dimpsey’s wonderful tile patio work.  admired his recording
studio and things of the sort.  finally we left there, and went on home.
late, got home about 1:30 or so.  stayed up on the computer browsing round,
checking email and the like.  went to bed.  woke up at about 9:30 in
the morn and made peaches and cream oatmeal and commenced to watching the sat
morn cartoons.

Saturday, February 8, 2003 – 2:01 am – so
i got in a while ago from seeing a great band, Down By Avalon.  Was at The
Cave in Chappel Hill, NC.  pretzelboy (Alan) was the front man with
acoustic guitar and vocals, and performed wonderfully along with Dimpsey (bass),
David (drums)  and Jeff (electric).

hi

sorry, been
slack.  i’ve been working on this site, but you cant see what ive done yet.
been propagating gigs.  have a show tonight in wake forest, me and mercy.
come see us.  at philly bistro.  cept i dont think its called philly
bistro anymore.  white street cafe or something like that.  anyway,
thats tonight.  7:30 pm or something around there.  i’m working on
packing up now, just wanted to stop in and say hi and to say stay tuned

Check out this
great artist on the abs-gallery,
J.
Jessoman.  The Crystal Masterpiece is my personal favorite.  i
have noticed recently my fat cat’s ears are on crooked.  my fav band
10,000 maniacs is regrouping.
new singer and new guitarist.  awesome.  but i’ll miss mary too.

and the hits keep
coming.  Cirque du Soleil will
be coming to my area in March.  Another show i thought I may never see.
I originally saw a recording of one of their shows at my good friend Scott’s
house.  Very odd stuff, but i’m odd and Scott may be even odder so i liked
it.  To say it’s a circus is a grand understatement.  It’s performance
art with talent.  I was going to finally see them.  In Disney World a
few years ago.  I had reservations.  Front row even!  but alas
the plans crumbled along with the then relationship.  There is a permanent
show in Las Vegas from my understanding.  Now, there is a permanent show in
Disney World too.  but, in March, they’ll be coming to town so i’ll be
there.  just some random links to keep you busy.  at what point will
the entire bible be found written on
stone tablets?  A
new sea may be forming in
Africa.  Should the US
negotiate with North
Korea?  Ever seen a

60 foot lava lamp?  I’ve always wanted to get a bunch of friends to
drive down the interstate with me side by side at exactly the speed limit to
block all the speeders.  Problem is all of my friends are the speeders.
Now, looks like the cops will
do it for me.
There’s not much paraphrasing i can do to this,

so here’s it:  “A Russian man who murdered his friend in a drunken
argument and then minced and flavored his body for a meal, was jailed for 12
years..”  Only thing i can say is 12 years?  Supreme court justice
says screw the
constitution, there’s too much separation between church and state.
Conspiracy time?  Who you gonna believe,
The Register or
RIAA?  it’s ok, i
just heard from Andrew from The Register,
he says stay tuned. so be sure to keep checking the Reg. This girl wants some
money so she can get implants.  I
told her i thought they looked just fine already.  let her know what you
think.  But of course, you cant have one without the other.  So,
here’s the guy who wants a wanker job.
I told him he’d be better off putting his pants back on.
nowedonthaveawebsite.com
the US government (military
no doubt) is now fighting
war with spam.  The computer company I work for
has no recycling program
at all, save for me taking the plastic bottles and aluminum cans home each week
for me to recycle.  Do you believe aliens exist?  Ward off those evil
aliens with the official no
aliens sticker.   courtesy of my good friend Marshall.
Thanks dude.

Its all about time.
you weren’t here before and you aren’t here now.  you cant just come back
and expect me to greet you nicely.  your coolness doesn’t impress me.
your horoscope was wrong.  that collage was too big.  ahh well.
the warehouse of love.  chewing on dried beer droppings isn’t tasteful.
the windows are open.  unusual is so usual here. the picture is too dark.
this place doesn’t have a river sky line.  red leopard prints decorate my
bed.  i meant to say yes.  mischievous people aren’t shy.  it
hangs out too much.  this crazy life.  its started back again.
slowing me down.  giving me headaches.  your eyes don’t comfort me
anymore.  i don’t have anything to say.  it doesn’t take much anymore.
i’m so negative.

Some of my favorite bands are
10,000 Maniacs,
Crash Test Dummies,
They Might Be Giants,
REM,
Indigo Girls, Jewel,
Tori Amos,
Sarah McLaughlin,  (uh,
they’re a she, not a band), and I have personally seen every one of them in
concert.  Many of these bands are artists i never thought i would actually
see live.  It was so surreal to me to see especially 10,000 maniacs as they
are one of my all time favorite groups.  And they are so unknown and
obscure, everyone says they’ve heard of them but can’t name a single song by
them.  Tori Amos is also extremely unknown.  However, her new album is
#2 for college style radio air play.  I like unpopular music.  Another
of my favorite bands is Toad The Wet
Sprocket.  And since they broke up, I never thought I’d get the chance
to see them in concert.  But, now my dream has been realized.  Don’t
know why they decided to, but they’ve chosen to get together again and put a few
more shows on the road.  March 8, 2003 I will finally be going to see them,
at what will more than likely be one of their last concerts.  It’s in
Myrtle Beach, SC at the House Of Blues so i’ve
got a nice little road trip ahead of me to look forward to.  I particularly
remember the first time i really took notice of Toad.  I was sitting in my
car in the parking lot of the Highway Patrol in Henderson, NC.  Listing to
WRDU 106 on the radio.  I was waiting for someone.  and they played
this great song by them, in fact it just so happens to be the very song i’m
listening to now.  Fall Down.  isn’t that a coincidence?  No, i
didn’t time it that way.  I have 5 of their CD’s in my cd player and have
it playing through them randomly.  So i heard the song and thought wow what
a great song, and they said who it was at the end of the song which they rarely
do anymore.  I took mention of it and went out and got one of their CD’s.
Then i realized I had heard several other of their songs on the radio before,
just never realized it was the same group.  And I’m sure you’ve heard them
too if you’d check them out sometime.

So, there’s
this great band called Down By
Avalon appearing at The Cave on
February 7th 2003.  My good friend
Pretzelboy is in the band.
Be sure to pay them a visit!  Speaking of upcoming shows, don’t forget
Groovelily is coming to
The Six String Cafe and Music Hall January 30, 2003.    I hope
those links work, my internet’s running slow right now.  maybe because i’m
downloading a bunch of stuff.  Speaking of downloading a bunch of stuff,
want to see what i’m downloading?  Today I found
a
great Chinese site with pics from cosplay’s there.  What is cosplay?
People dressing up and playing the role of a character from usually an anime
series or video game.  This is usually done at anime conventions.
Anime usually coming from Japan, this site is in China.  However, in the
background I noticed the Tokyo Dome.  That’s where some great artists like
Ayumi Hamasaki have performed huge concerts.  Anyway, they also have some
great wallpapers and music from different games and series if your adventurous
enough to navigate the site without knowing the language.  If you think
that kind of stuff doesn’t happen here, think again.  Check out my links to
Con Reports.  Right now it’s located on the left hand side of the screen.
It’s got pictures i’ve taken from the local cons i’ve been to.  Next one
extremely local to me is Animazement,
in Durham, North Carolina from May 23 to May 25 2003.  These events are
24/7 so be sure to get a 3 day pass and a hotel room.

In other
news, I received an Xbox for Christmas from my Mom.  Thanks mom.  and
the other day, i finally went out and bought my first game.  Shenmue II.
When I received the first Shenmue on Dreamcast, it was a new experience.
It really throws you into this other world.  It’s so realistic and
realistic doesn’t have to mean only graphically you unimaginative fools.
You can conversate with anyone.  yes, i meant to say conversate.  You
can go anywhere, enter any store.  Buy something.  doesn’t matter.
It was such a great game that I began to have dreams about it.  I was
there, in that world.  I was Ryo for a while.  and what i wouldn’t
give to kick Ryo in the balls and tell him to ask Nazomi out.   its
obvious they like each other.  She’s extremely interested, but he just
blows her off.  he’s not apparent at all, until the very end – if you call
Nazomi just before she leaves town, he almost spills the beans.  Anyway,
Shenmue II takes the step much further.  You enter into this new world,
(you’ve just arrived in Hong  Kong) and there are so many people there.
You exit the boat and can wander the harbor, the streets and what not.
Talk to anyone.  See anything.  So much going on.   People
say the game is no better on Xbox than on the Dreamcast version and that’s just
crazy.  Even though the Dreamcast Shenmue I was very technologically sound,
it was a step above what had been done on any console before.  Yu Suzuki
said that the game was really an experiment.  To create a new style of
game.  Put you in this world and let you go.  Live it. Walking the
streets of Shenmue II there is sooo much to see.  the shops are incredibly
detailed.  Even the signs and banners above the streets are polygonaly
amazing.  And moving 30 or so people around on the screen at once is no
small challenge.  Anyway, point is Shenmue II is awesome.  Get it.
Watch the DVD movie of Shenmue I if you didn’t play it or you will really be
lost.  Not too bad, but it wont make a whole lot of sense.  Besides,
props to Yu Suzuki, quoting here from Gamespy:
“SEGA Chief Executive
Officer Yo (edit – i think it’s Yu not Yo) Suzuki will receive a Hall of Fame
award from the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) during the 2003
D.I.C.E. Summit on February 27. Last year’s winner Will Wright of Maxis (edit –
Sim City hall of fame) will present the award to Suzuki, who has “not only
created some of the best video games in the world, but he has also helped
enhance awareness and appreciation of this interactive art form,” according to
AIAS President Paul Provenzano. The industry veteran is best known for the games
Outrun, Space Harrier, Shenmue, and the Virtua Fighter
series.”

moving on.  what do you do otherwise?
when the realization sets in.

its that time of year again. i’ve spent the last few weeks shopping for your present. i have several methods of which i purchase gifts. one, i will buy a bunch of stuff that is gift worthy. then i’ll take it all home, and pick one of them up and say this would be good for so and so. and pick another up and say this would be for so and so. and so on until all the gifts are accounted for. another method, i walk aimlessly around the malls until i see something that catches my eye and makes me say that would be good for so and so. and i’ll buy it. thats the best way i think. problem is since i’m a man, i dread spending all day in the malls. so if at the end of the day of walking around i still haven’t seen something to catch my eye for a particular person i’m missing, i feel very lost. that’s when i resort back to method #1. but sometimes the combinations of methods leads me to have extra gifts. which is good anyway, because i’m sure i’ve forgotten someone. i spent a lot of money on myself this year. since i dont have a partner to spend money on, i might as well enjoy it. so i got a PS2. and i got the very awesome final fantasy x. i also got kingdom hearts which i am already stuck in. besides, i’ve been wasting my time with yuna and rikku and the ever growing on me lulu. the game is filled with gratuitous shots of her breasts which i’m noticing way too much, so thats not good. shots of her breasts are allowed, but not to the point where they’re just doing it for the hell of it. it’s not necessary to have a shot of someone standing to the side of lulu talking, and having lulu in the foreground with just her cleavage showing. when she wins a battle, she’ll hang her torso down and let them hang and swang around. lulu is just a little slut. but yuna and rikku on the other hand. ahhh. well, anyway. my good friend margaret in china informed me she would not buy any Christmas cards because it would contribute to the pollution. that’s a new concept for me. but i guess when you have a country with how ever many billion of people they have and if each person gave away 10 Christmas cards year after year, they can pile up pretty quick. where do old cards go? do you throw them away? do you keep them in a box? do you send received cards to someone else? my downfall is i have some clothing i received for Christmas that i never returned because i dont like them. i dont know what to do with them. i would give them away but i’ve forgotten who gave them to me. i dont want to give it back to the same person who gave it to me. i think my dad did that last year. if i remember correctly i gave him a lowes gift card two years ago. well, last year i got one from him. pretty sure it was the same one i gave to him. ahh well. actually, i don’t know if i’ve ever spent it. hmmm. i have a gift card for best buy that i will never use. because i’ve boycotted best buy. i’ve boycotted wal mart from game purchases as well. eb games and babbages and of course somewhere online are my new fav places to buy from. i’ve even already received my first gift. thanks marty. but i haven’t opened it yet. i’ll wait until we can officially exchange presents until i do. marty’s one of those people i saw something and said oo that would be great for marty. i even was tempted to pick one up for myself. but i refrained. maybe i’ll go back later and get another one. friday night we had our company Christmas get together. and i didn’t feel lonely one bit. although i was the only single guy there. you know this is the first Christmas in about 7 years where i haven’t had a girlfriend? it’s weird. almost as weird as my first Christmas with a girlfriend. the only decorating i’ve done for Christmas is the tons of unwrapped presents on my floor. the bags they came out of are strewn amongst the house belongings. receipts are all over my kitchen counter. i’m gathering wrapping paper and tape and scissors in anticipation of a hurried wrapping session. my cats attempt to wrap themselves. my dog thinks Christmas cookies are hers. yet i’m right on track. i haven’t given in to the commercialization of Christmas. maybe. you know, like charlie brown. i only this year realized what the charlie brown Christmas special was all about. ok, my cat just fell off the desk. that’s rare. anyway, pay attention next time. but watch it on tv. the dvd version only brings out the bad sound quality and editing. it was obviously meant for adults, kids would never understand a show like that. and did you see the new muppet Christmas show? not for kids either. i’m proud of them. there was enough political, satirical and sexual humor to please me and make me laugh so hard to fall off the couch. well in case i dont have time to write again, and in case i dont see you again before hand, merry Christmas. enjoy it. get and give what you want. relax, meet old friends and family. eat lots of food. and spend the next week cleaning up, organizing your house, and wondering when you’re going to do all those returns and exchanges

still recovering. but i’m alive. For those who don’t have a clue, my area received a huge ice storm last Wednesday night. my power went off right around midnight Wednesday night. i lit some candles, played some guitar, and then went to bed. i awoke to a very cold house, and as it continued to get colder, i decided against roughing it and went to my dads. who has a fireplace and a generator. i packed up a huge backpack of clothes, magazines, water, food, camera equipment and the like and walked to his house. on the way, i took lots of pictures which i will be working on posting here as soon as i can. and it wasn’t until quite a while of me doing photos for documentary sake and arts sake that i realized i had been stepping all over a power line. apparently and luckily it was disconnected at both ends. The trees all swayed into the road, taking the power lines with them. all around me was the popping snapping sounds of trees breaking and falling. at that point, i knew i was going to be out of power for quite some time. if just my immediate area was like this, it must be far worse elsewhere. got to my dads, and me and my dad went walking and i took more pics. we walked his woods and saw all the damage to the trees. got depressed, and walked back, and Marie (my stepmom) had cooked up some food on the fireplace. we ate and watched the news (tv on generator) and just lounged around. nothing else to do. that night, power came on at about 10:00 pm. i was watching tv, and noticed the clocks coming on and the answering machine start. cool, but i hadn’t seen anyone come fix the power lines. 30 minutes later it went back off. well, ok, to make a long story short, it came back on saturday night about 8 or so. we washed clothes and things like that while we had power, they still hadn’t come to fix the down line yet. not quite sure how we had power, but we did. and it continued to stay on. i ended up leaving today around 3 pm. sat and sun was full of chainsawing and picking up and hauling and the like. i counted 6 truckloads of limbs we hauled in the truck, and maybe another 10 full we moved by hand. trees are very heavy to move especially when covered in ice. the most exercise i’ve had all year maybe. well, im thankful i have power now. i can come back home and clean my house, wash clothes, take a hot shower and eat a good meal. i think i’ll even sleep naked tonight just cuz i can

freak #1,

freak #2, to

walk in those shoes, looks like some

sort of art work,

freak #3  – designed?  created?  this is supposed to be
professionalism? this is just
asinine.